R. Lee Wrights

Op Ed: The Wasted Vote Lie

"Let
each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not
making a present or a compliment to please an individual - or at least that he
ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in
human society for which he is accountable to God and his country." -
Samuel Adams, in the Boston Gazette, 1781

by R. Lee Wrights

BURNET, Texas
(July 12) - Every election Libertarians are invariably confronted with the
charge that a vote for a Libertarian candidate is a wasted vote. The accuser
claims that if you really wanted limited government you should vote for the
candidate who has a chance of winning -- the Republican. In some rare cases,
the assertion may be that if you really wanted to protect civil liberties you'd
vote for the candidate who has a chance of winning -- the Democrat. And yet,
our liberty goes unprotected as government grows unimpeded.

To
my utter astonishment, this bogus argument invariably causes some genuine
freedom-loving people to betray their stated beliefs. Why do they leap from the
Ship of Principle into the stormy Sea
of Compromise at the very
moment their strength, courage and resolve are needed the most? Only one thing
makes a person abandon everything they've ever believed in and fought for --
desperation, the feeling that all is lost and the best one can do is choose the
lesser of two evils. Even telling them that voting for the lesser of two evils
is still voting for evil doesn't seem to dissuade them from their decision.

Little
do they realize that they have once again been duped by the Wasted Vote Lie. It
is a deliberate, carefully crafted fable concocted and perpetrated by the
Democratic and Republican duopoly to maintain their stranglehold on power. They
cleverly employ the propaganda trick of tyrants throughout the ages; if you
repeat a lie loud enough and often enough eventually people will believe it.

The
worst thing about voting for the "lesser of two evils" is that it
actually has the opposite effect of what it's intended to do. Winning
candidates don't know, they don't want to know -- and frankly don't care -- why
people vote for them. They certainly don't know and don't care how many of the
votes they got were so-called protest votes. All they want is enough votes to
win. They'll consider all the votes they get as an endorsement of their
campaign promises or past performance to claim a "mandate from the
people."

The
news media aid and abet in this subterfuge when, with a Cheshire cat smile,
they ask Libertarian candidates, "You know you can't win, so why are you
running?" They don't want a meaningful response because their intent is to
divert the conversation away from any discussion of substantive issues. Their
purpose is to marginalize the Libertarian so they can justify treating the
campaign as a sideshow to be covered only for the entertainment value.

The
Wasted Vote Lie is often accompanied by another big lie, that your vote for a
Libertarian candidate "takes away" votes from the Republican or
Democrat. Let's call this allegation what it is -- pure and unadulterated
arrogance. The ruling elites believe your vote belongs to them and that you're
too ignorant, or too stupid, or too uninformed to use it wisely. The Wasted
Vote Lie and all its variations is an obvious and clear symptom of the
condition Republicans and Democrats fear the most -- an independent, thinking
voter.

Let
me be clear: there is no such thing as a wasted vote. Your vote belongs to you,
and no one else. It doesn't belong to the Republican or Democratic Party, or
any party or candidate for that matter. Your vote is your voice; it is one of
your unnamed, inalienable rights, the ultimate expression of your right to free
speech and self-government. Your vote is the most precious and meaningful gift
you can give to any candidate. Your vote is worth more than any amount of money
or any number of volunteer hours you may give, which is why politicians lust
after it so hungrily. Your vote cannot be wasted, or stolen, or lost - unless
you make a decision to do so.

There
is no such thing as a wasted vote; even a vote you refuse to cast is not
wasted. Restrictive ballot access laws are another device created by the
reigning political parties to stifle competition and maintain their grip on
power. Your decision not to give the gift of your vote to either of the
"two evils" you're given to choose from is in effect casting a vote
for free choice. Just as millions of people fled Communist tyranny in Eastern Europe following World War II, many people who
choose to stay home on Election Day are "voting with their feet."

Win
or lose, voting isn't about picking a winner. Voting is about exercising your
conscience. Elections aren't generally decided by one vote. Giving your vote to
a candidate you don't agree with in the hope that he will do something you
like, just because you like his opponent even less, is like giving money to a
drunk on the street who asks for money for something to eat. You know he's just
going to buy more booze; he can't help himself.

While
one vote usually won't decide an election, if enough people vote for a
principle the effect will be much greater and will be cumulative election after
election. One person can't clean up the environment, or even clean up a highway
alone. But if a number of people each pick up one piece of trash along the
road, they can make that highway, a small portion of the larger environment,
significantly cleaner.

In
the same way, if enough people vote for a candidate on principle they can make
a difference even if their candidate doesn't win. They can send a clear message
to the establishment, to the ruling elite, that "Enough is enough."
In the 1984 presidential election, Libertarian presidential candidate David
Bergland gave this response to the "wasted vote" question, "If
everyone who is fed up with what the Democrats and Republicans have been doing
to them for the past several decades were to vote for me, I would win in a
landslide." The same can be said about every Libertarian presidential
candidate since.

The
goal of this campaign is to offer people the opportunity to cast their vote for
something, not against something; to vote for what they want, not against what
they don't want. We want to give people the chance to present the gift of their
vote to a party and a candidate who represents their principles, their ideals,
their aspirations and their hopes. We want to empower people to send a clear
and simple message to Democrats and Republicans that they will no longer
tolerate deception and deceit, arrogance and power-grabbing. This campaign is
dedicated to the goal that in 2012 every person who sincerely believes in
liberty and freedom, and who is outraged by the perpetual and infinite wars
fabricated by Republicans and Democrats for the sole purpose of instilling fear
and expanding their power, will reject the Wasted Vote Lie and send a loud,
clear and unequivocal message to both parties to stop all war.

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone,
and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."
- John Quincy Adams

R. Lee Wrights, 53, a libertarian writer and
political activist, is seeking the presidential nomination because he believes
the Libertarian message in 2012 must be a loud, clear and unequivocal call to stop
all war. To that end he has pledged that 10 percent of all donations to his
campaign will be spent for ballot access so that the stop all war message can
be heard in all 50 states. Wrights is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and co-founder and editor of of the free speech
online magazine Liberty For
All. Born
in Winston-Salem, N.C.,
he now lives and works in Texas.